ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 12, 2005

ELCA Responds to Two World Disasters
05-195-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) allocated an initial $100,000 to assist relief efforts in
the aftermath of an Oct. 8 earthquake in Pakistan and another
$50,000 toward responses to flooding and mudslides in the wake of
Hurricane Stan in Central America, according to Lita Brusick
Johnson, associate executive director, ELCA Global Mission.
     ELCA International Disaster Response sent the funds to
Church World Service (CWS), which has had relief and development
operations in Pakistan for more than 25 years, and to Action by
Churches Together (ACT) International, which is working through
Christian aid organizations across Central America.
     CWS is the relief, development and refugee assistance
ministry of 36 U.S. Protestant and Orthodox churches, including
the ELCA.  It works in partnership with indigenous organizations
in more than 80 countries to meet human needs and foster
self-reliance.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies
that meets human need through organized emergency response.  It
is based with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World
Council of Churches (WCC), in Geneva, Switzerland.  The ELCA is a
member of the LWF and the WCC.
     "I ask you to pray for families who lost their loved ones to
these disasters and pray for victims who are affected physically
and emotionally," said Belletech Deressa, director for
international development and disaster response, ELCA Global
Mission, urging ELCA congregations to help victims of these
disasters by giving gifts to ELCA International Disaster
Response.

Pakistan Earthquake
     A 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed as many as 30,000 people
in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan and India.  It injured at
least 47,000 and left millions without homes.
     The earthquake struck the Pakistan-India border northeast
of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.  Communication was cut, and
landslides blocked roads and made already rugged terrain
inaccessible.  Immediate response to the disaster was further
complicated by armed conflict in Southeast Afghanistan and
political tensions in Kashmir between Pakistan and Indian.
     CWS was one of the first relief agencies to begin
distributing relief assistance in the wake of the earthquake.  In
Pakistan it provided immediate assistance to 1,600 families in
Northwest Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir, and it moved
shelter kits and family food packages to Murree, north of
Islamabad.  Relief packages for each family consist of wheat
flour, rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, tea leaves, salt and a
packet of matches.
     CWS is planning long-term shelter and medical assistance in
the region.

Hurricane Stan's Continuing Effect on Central America
     Heavy rains from Hurricane Stan have plagued Central America
since Oct. 1.
     Guatemala has experienced extensive flooding and more than
900 mudslides, especially in areas populated by indigenous people
living in extreme poverty.  According to the latest official
reports, 652 people are reported dead, 384 missing and 99 injured
in Guatemala. It is estimated that 93,893 people have been
affected, 1,298 houses destroyed and 5,225 damaged; 359
communities are affected, and 118 remain cut off.
     In El Salvador the Santa Ana volcano that erupted on Oct. 1
combined with the rains of Hurricane Stan to kill 65 people and
displace more than 54,000 people.
     The rains from Hurricane Stan have created a state of
emergency in Nicaragua's Waspan region and have also affected
Honduras.
     Christian Aid, Conference of Evangelical Churches of
Guatemala, Danish Church Aid, LWF, Norwegian Church Aid and Swiss
Interchurch Aid are working together as the ACT Guatemala Forum.
They are bringing food, water, medicines, clothes and hygiene
kits to the affected population, especially in areas where other
humanitarian aid agencies are not responding to the emergency.
     The ACT Guatemala Forum works in partnership with Trocaire,
the Catholic development agency in Ireland, and other local
implementing partners.  The forum has deployed assessment teams
to the affected areas.
     ACT members in El Salvador -- Christian Aid, LWF,
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Salvadoran Lutheran Synod --
are providing assistance to the affected population through their
local partners.  They are bringing food, water, medicines,
hygiene kits, mattresses, bed sheets and other relief items to
2,000 people in the emergency phase.  Their long-term plans
include counseling and efforts to avoid the outbreak of
waterborne diseases.
     ACT member Christian Medical Action is responding in
Nicaragua with food and medicines to prevent the spread of
waterborne diseases.  ACT members in Honduras are monitoring
conditions in that country.
_ _ _
INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:
Editors:  When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto
Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA International Disaster Response, PO Box 71764,
Chicago, IL 60694-1764, 1-800-638-3522 and
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/idrgive on the Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news